Falling Too Deep
by Crystal Frost
Summary: CHAPTER 12 HAS ARRIVED! RR! Sirius Black finally returns without anywhere to go. Finally choosing to apparate to Hermione's, he slowly discovers a love hidden beneath the surface. Hermione can't help but wonder, why did he go to her? SBHG. Please RR!
1. Default Chapter

The Surprising Return  
  
Sirius Black fell into a dark cold room and he knew instantly that he had fallen behind the veil in the Department of Mysteries. Sirius looked around for a moment. His sleek black long hair was drenched in sweat and his face dirty. He searched in the silvery blue light for his wand. He felt like he had shattered as the spell was cast but the veil had saved him. His heart beat quickly at the thought of never seeing his godson, Ron or Hermione again. But then he saw it: about ten feet away was his wand in perfectly good condition. Sirius seized it and pointed it towards the ground and muttered:  
  
"Dissendium!" Sirius was lifted off his feet and he stayed in tense arms and ankles locked position as he was lifted of the ground and directed back through the veil. He looked around. The room was silent and he saw nothing except a few boxes and dead Death Eaters.  
  
"Where have they gone?" He muttered to himself in the empty department. "The battle couldn't be finished already." But it was. Sirius slowly looked around. He then noticed a dirty calendar hanging up on the wall. It was a charmed calendar in which the day was never wrong. He looked at it and the date read June 7.  
  
"That's from nearly two weeks ago!" Sirius exclaimed to himself, startled. Sirius exited the depressing department and found himself out on the streets wandering down the dark road in the night. Sirius was pleased to be away from the department and the veil but where could he go now? Suddenly he realized that now that he was out of the Ministry's building he could apparate! But he questioned where he should apparate to. He couldn't go to Hogwarts to speak with Dumbledore because Hogwarts is enchanted to let no apparating go on within it. Then Sirius thought, Harry, perhaps? But then Sirius realized that Harry's uncle and aunt wouldn't be too pleased with that.  
  
Then it hit him: Hermione. I'm sure her parents wouldn't mind! Since they're muggles, I'm sure they won't know I'm wanted for murder, and plus, I can just be Snuffles for a while and she can tell them I'm a stray! It's perfect. With no further questioning, there was a loud crack and Sirius found himself landing in chair in Hermione's room abruptly. She was lying on her bed on her stomache doing homework when she looked up to see him.  
  
Her eyes grew wide and she stood up to get a closer look.  
  
"Sirius?" She muttered. "Is that you?" almost afraid that if she said the words he was go away as fast as he came.  
  
"Yes. Yes, it's me." Sirius exclaimed. Sirius was wearing baggy black pants and a white, dirty t-shirt stained with mud and Sirius looked into her face. "Hermione," he continued, "I never died, honest! It's safe to smile..." he teased causing the expression of shock on her face to turn into a small smile. "Sirius... I just... I can't believe it. The past two weeks have been, well, hell actually." She said sadly.  
  
"Aww... You missed me that much, did you?" Sirius said playfully.  
  
"Well, yes! We have been good friends, haven't we?"  
  
"Of course we have. That's why you're going to let me stay with you." Sirius gave her a sweet smile which even made her flush.  
  
"I don't know Sirius... I mean my parents... they... they wouldn't let me have a thirty-five year old man stay in my room with me at night..."  
  
"Well, maybe they may think an old man would hurt you in some way..." he said winking. "However, they'd never suspect an innocent black dog, would they?" Sirius quickly transformed into his big black dog form and gave her sad puppy eyes and started whimpering at her.  
  
"Oh Sirius!" She cried out as the dog leaped on her making her fall back as he licked her face fiercely. Hermione laughed and finally gave in. "Oh all right..." This only caused Sirius to lick her more and begin to bark loudly. Hermione covered the dog's mouth quickly as she jumped up but it was too late. There was a knock on her door and Hermione's mother strode in.  
  
"Hermione Granger! Where did that dog come from?" Said Mrs. Granger pointing at Sirius.  
  
"I.... I er- I found him.... Out—side..." Hermione stuttered.  
  
"So you invited him in for a cup of tea, is that it?" Mrs. Granger said sarcastically.  
  
"No, of course not mother." Hermione said slowly regaining her confidence. "You see, it was barking outside my window and I couldn't concentrate so I just let it in to see what was the matter. It's so nice mother! I named him Snuffles. Isn't he such a handsome dog?" Hermione said hugging Sirius close to her. Mrs. Granger just looked from Hermione to the dog uneasily.  
  
"Mother, please may I keep him?" Hermione pleaded as Snuffles licked her on the cheek and gave Mrs. Granger, what appeared to be a smile.  
  
"Oh, all right." Mrs. Granger said finally. Both Hermione and Snuffles lept onto Mrs. Granger hugging her with thanks.  
  
"Thank you so much mother! I promise he'll be good! Watch!" Hermione gestured for Snuffles to sit and he did so right on cue. Then Hermione gestured for Snuffles to role over and he did so with out hesitation.  
"Yes, Yes well, just don't you let your father find out yet," Mrs. Granger said warningly. "We'll have to break it to him softly in a few days." Mrs. Granger then left the room and Snuffles transformed back into Sirius and Sirius gave Hermione a huge hug and thanked her. She held him tightly. He smelled good and felt strong. She was actually rather glad he was going to stay with her for a while.  
  
"So," Sirius said through the hug as he pulled Hermione out to face him, his hands on her shoulders. "Do you really think that I'm handsome?" Hermione hesitated to answer this and looked everywhere except at Sirius.  
  
"I... why.. yes. I do. You're rather good-looking Sirius." She said confidently while straightening her school books. "For an old man that is..." Sirius smirked.  
  
"I'm not that old. I'm only thirty-five now, come on." Sirius responded. Hermione laughed.  
  
"Oh I was only joking now lie down and get some rest. I'll bring you up some food later, and we'll need to wash those clothes." Sirius gave her one last hug and he fell asleep and slept more soundly then he'd slept in years. 


	2. Feelings Unleashed

Feelings Unleashed  
  
Sirius's POV:  
  
The following day, Sirius woke up with his arm rapped around Hermione and they were lying on her bed. She really was beautiful Sirius thought. But there was no way.... Merlin's beard she was over fifteen years older then himself...  
  
Hermione mumbled something in her sleep and rolled over onto his stomache unintentionally and he took in the smell of her hair. Strawberries. They smelled wonderful and the curls fell down upon her milky white cheek perfectly.  
  
'What if she hadn't let me stay here with her?' Sirius thought to himself. No, he couldn't think about that. It's not important now.  
  
Hermione started rolling around and she leaned over and slowly opened eyes to meet Sirius's. She was startled at first but his gentle stroke on her hair soothed her and reminded her what had happened the night before.  
  
"Oh! Sirius, of course. I- I nearly forgot," She said to him as she picked up a pillow and moved away from Sirius's stomach. "How did you sleep?"  
  
"Pretty well, actually," he told her convincingly. "With a pretty girl like you snuggled up to me, well, any man would sleep well," Sirius teased. Hermione laughed and hit him with the pillow.  
  
"That's not funny," She giggled at him.  
  
"Well, then why are you laughing?" Sirius asked innocently.  
  
"OH, anyway," said Hermione changing the subject, "Today I have to go grocery shopping with my mom but I'll be back in about... an hour. So, why don't you take this as an opportunity to wash your clothes and get some food? All right? Sirius was obviously disappointed but he wounldn't show it.  
  
"Okay fine. What's for breakfast?" He asked, his stomach rumbling beneath his white shirt and fine abs.  
  
"Well, there's plenty of cereals and breads and juices downstairs so you can go down there after I leave."  
  
"Okay. Sounds great." Sirius said sitting up on the bed as Hermione strode over to her desk. "And Hermione," he called over to her. She turned around and met her beautiful eyes with his. "Thank you. Thank you for taking me in like a stray puppy. I really don't deserve it."  
  
"Oh of course you do Sirius. Don't be so silly. You've been a great friend to me and you nearly saved my and Harry's life a few weeks ago. I should be thanking you," she said striding over to him and embracing him in a warm hug. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and left the room. Sirius was flustered.  
  
'No,' he thought. 'I can't fall for a teenage girl. She's just a child.' But as Sirius said this to himself, another part of him was hoping, praying that Hermione felt the same way.  
  
Sirius got up and walked towards her bathroom. Strawberries. He tried to move the thought away from his mind and he took off all his clothes and rapped a yellow towel around his waist so that he could go wash them. While he was waiting for his clothes to wash, he said in her kitchen, ate cornflakes, and thought. Thought about Harry, thought about Lupin, Ron, all the people he cared about who he may never see again. They thought he was dead. Everyone did, except Hermione.  
  
"No," Sirius said to himself. "I will see them again." He then spilled the rest of his cereal down his throat and proceeded to the laundryroom.  
  
"Thank God they're done." He brought them into her bathroom again and decided it would be a good idea to take a shower. 'Would she mind?' he asked himself. 'No of course not,' a voice answered. So he removed the towel, turned the faucet to hot water, and stepped in. The heat running down his back felt wonderful. He looked around for some sort of shampoo for guys but was in no luck and had to use the strawberry shampoo that Hermione smells like. Once he finished, Sirius felt a lot better fully clothed and clean and right then, while his hair was still wet, Hermione returned.  
  
"Hey Hermione, how are you?" He asked towel drying his hair and looking at upside down as he bent over. She looked at him in a sort of confused way.  
  
Hermione's POV  
  
He looked absolutely stunning. Hermione had never seen Sirius Black look so handsome. But she couldn't let herself think this way. He was too old for her! He said it himself last night. 'I'm just an old man.' She repeated his words in her head. No it couldn't be. She couldn't love Sirius. 


	3. To the Lake

A/N: Hope your liking it guys! Remember to R/R so I know how I'm doing okay? Cool.  
  
Sirius froze in his position leaning down to dry his hair and looked at her upside down. He knew she was staring at him, but that was okay with him.  
  
"What's up?" he asked ruining the silence.  
  
"Oh nothing. There's a lot more food downstairs now that we're back from the store. Hope you like dog food because we got a lot of it." Hermione laughed and a look of absolute disgust spread of Sirius's face. Hermione laughed.  
  
"I'm just kidding. I'll bring you up regular food as often as you like. Its... 11:15 now so we'll it lunch in a while. Okay?" Sirius collapsed on her bed and lay there for a few moments as she watched him. He then sat up on his elbows and looked over at her.  
  
"Is something bothering you, Hermione?"  
  
Something was bothering her. It had been bothering her the last three days. She had another boyfriend although she hadn't told Sirius yet. A boy at Hogwarts. In fast, she hadn't even told Ron or Harry yet. She knew it would bother everyone she told, soshe couldn't handle telling them. 'Maybe later...' she thought.  
  
"Oh no, nothing at all," she lied. Sirius gave her a look as to say, "I don't believe you..." but he kept it to himself.  
  
"All right, so what do you want to do today? Or... this summer rather..." Sirius asked. He had been slightly worried about that lately. He was going to be at her house the whole summer and he couldn't stand awkward moments. Obviously there were going to be a few of those, all of which he was dreading.  
  
"Well," she answered sitting next to him on the bed, "My parents are out the whole day. Said they were going to a Broadway play in London. So, we can pretty much do anything." Sirius liked the sound of this. He had Hermione all to himself.  
  
"Why don't we go down to the lake?"  
  
"But no one will be there right now. It's supposed to rain today!" Hermione said trying to convince him it was a bad idea.  
  
"I don't care." Said Sirius. "It's not raining now, is it?" he said poking her in the ribs. Hermione giggled.  
  
"Oh all right. But just for a little while." Sirius quickly transformed into his dog form, which was nice and clean now, and they strolled down to the lake, which was only a few blocks away. Sirius could see rain clouds coming in but he wasn't about to mention that to Hermione. This was going to be too much fun. He loved the way she always had a content smile on her face all the time as if to say, "nothing can overcome me." She really was beautiful.  
  
After a few moments the both of them finally reached the lake. Hermione was right. Absolutely no one was there. And even though it was 11:30 in the morning, it appeared to be an early time in the morning when there almost always is fog. Sirius, looking around to see that no one was there, transformed into his human form. Hermione looked at him.  
  
"What did I tell you, Sirius?" She said now looking up at the sky.  
  
"I know, I know. But it's not cold or anything. Why don't we go for a swim?" Sirius asked energetically.  
  
"Oh, don't be ridiculous! Swimming? Now?" She looked at him as though that was the most absurd thing she's ever heard of. Sirius nodded.  
  
"I don't even have my suit!"  
  
"Well... neither do I... Come on Hermione have a bit of fun!" Sirius begged.  
  
"No!" Hermione laughed. "There is no way." She sat down on a nearby bench a few yards away from the lake. Sirius shook his head at her and scolded.  
  
"What every you say, love." Sirius took a few steps into the lake, looked back at her for a small moment, and dove in. The water felt nice. It was slightly cold but the chill was a good way to calm him because inside he was nearly going crazy.  
  
He stood up once he was about three feet deep and the water reached near his waste. "Come on Hermione!" She looked at him. It did look fun, but she wouldn't ruin her white Tee and new jeans just to play in the lake.  
  
Sirius stood up and walked out of the lake and grabbed her by the arm.  
  
"Sirius! Let go! What are you –" but it was useless. Sirius was obviously much stronger then her.  
  
"Sirius stop!" She yelled laughing a little. It was too late. Sirius had already managed to pull her about a half a foot deep into the lake. He turned her to face him. She looked into his deep dark eyes and felt a tingling feeling deep in her stomach. 'What was he doing?' She thought. Then, without warning, Sirius had splashed an entire bucket full of water in her head. She opened her mouth as if about to say something as water dripped down her face, but instead closed it and glared at him. Sirius gave her an evil smile as she jumped on him pushing him down under the water. Sirius laughed and then dunked her under.  
"Hermione! Stop!" She had rapped a long strand of seaweed around his waste and was dragging him around in the water chuckling to herself.  
  
"That's what you get for pulling me into the water without warning And ruining my clothes!" She turned around to face him. He now noticed that her cute white Tee was drenched revealing a lot more then he expected to see this summer. He tried to back away but the seaweed held him in. She smiled at him and leaned in. But at that very moment, rain began to poor on them harder then ever. They both sprinted out of the lake and ran back up to her house as fast as they could as the rain drenched them even more then they already were.  
  
"I'll get some towels," Hermione exclaimed running into her bathroom. She grabbed two of her yellow towels. She looked down at him. His clothes were absolutely soaked.  
  
"Here. I'll go find some of my Dad's clothes for you to wear while yours are drying," she said breathing hard. She sprinted up stairs leaving him standing in her entryway with a towel still dripping wet. A few moments later she returned with a pair of light blue jeans, black plaid boxers, and a black t-shirt.  
  
"Thanks," he mumbled to her.  
  
"No, prob. Just go change in my bathroom and I'll change in my room. Just make sure the door's shut tight." She winked at him and he grinned and walked into the bathroom shutting the door. Did she mean that in any sort of... way? He put on the clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. They worked. He left the bathroom with his wet clothes to see Hermione from the back with jeans and no top. All he saw was her naked back, but still. She gasped when she heard him and he turned around quickly muttering "shit," under his breath. She quickly clasped her bra on and slipped a tank top on over it and turned around.  
  
"You can look now," she muttered. Sirius cleared his throat.  
  
"Sorry about that..." he said obviously slightly embarrassed.  
  
"It's okay. How about I make us some lunch," she suggested. The rain was still pouring outside and before he could answer her question, he saw a shadow moving outside her window. 


	4. Reading

Sirius looked towards the window behind Hermione where the outdoor lamplight had been dimmed by a moving shadow. He shifted towards it and peered out the window as he opened it, pointing his wand outside, when he realized nothing was there. Anymore at least...  
  
"Sirius? What's the matter?" Hermione moved next to him and peered out the window as well in search of what could possibly be drawing Sirius away from her.  
  
"Nothing," said Sirius confusedly. He could have sworn he saw something move outside. "Don't worry about it. How about lunch?" He asked. And Hermione, still not completely satisfied with his response, proceeded to the kitchen to fix Sirius and herself some homemade chicken soup. Once they had finished lunch, Hermione went across the hall to her room and shut her blinds to stop Sirius from looking out the window so often.  
  
"You seem nervous about something Sirius. Is everything okay?" she asked him, obviously concerned. Sirius thought about this. What had that shadow been?  
  
"Nothings wrong. I'm just going to go check if the doors are all locked." Sirius left the room and rain began to poor down harder. Hermione sighed and reached for her Standard Book of Spells Book 6. She had already bought all her new schoolbooks the week after school ended. She opened up to Chapter 4 and the first spell in the list was a cleaning charm. Housekeepers often used it to occupy small tasks such as washing plates or organizing papers while they focused on the big tasks. 'Interesting,' Hermione thought.  
  
Then Sirius stepped back into the room and slumped down in her desk chair as she continued to read.  
  
"All the doors are locked," Sirius told her critically. Hermione didn't answer because she was engulfed in her book. Sirius strode over to see what was holding her attention so strongly and read over her shoulder, "...When your garden doesn't grow, the simple charm to use is the "growth" charm. It only works on plants. Mutter the word: centigrotestica under your breath while pointing your wand..." Sirius interrupted her reading.  
  
"Oh, Hermione, how boring! You need to buy some more thrilling novels. Adventures of wizards that used to really exist! When I still went to Hogwarts, my favorite book was Behind the Cave, by Marcus Gendoile." Sirius exclaimed enthusiastically as Hermione closed her book and turned around to look at him finding that his head, which was moments ago only over her shoulder, now inches from her face.  
  
"Well I will probably read it someday Sirius." She murmured under her breath.  
  
"Good. I'm sure you would like it." Sirius said drawing nearer to her.  
  
"Afterall," she whispered "If you like it..." Sirius was now so close she could see the light beneath his eyes and the sweat upon his cheek. Hermione gasped. A giant spider had just landed directly on Sirius's shoulder and began crawling down his back. Sirius, not nearly as nervous as Hermione was, reached for it, opened the window, through it outside, and closed it quickly and locked it, shutting the blinds. Hermione, still slightly afraid, gave Sirius a questioning look.  
  
"What's going on with you? Why are you all of a sudden so worried about having everything shut tight and secure?" Hermione asked him sitting up from her curled in a ball position.  
  
"I don't know, it's just something I saw." Sirius answered. And before Hermione could say anything he added, "It was nothing." Hermione sighed, slightly disappointed and opened her book once again to chapter four to finish her section.  
  
"Oh please not that again," Sirius moaned. Hermione sat up, once again and looked him in the eye with a sort of amused look on her face.  
  
"Who cares if I like reading Stand Book of Spells? It's not like I'm forcing you to." She finished shaking her head slightly and opening the book once again.  
  
"I know but, what should I do?" Sirius asked in a little bit of a baby voice. Hermione looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow. She paused for a moment. Then she stood up, grabbed her History of Magic book, dumped it in Sirius's lap and proceeded to her spot on the bed to finish reading. Sirius looked from Hermione to the book a few times, sighed and then opened to a random page somewhere in the middle and the first man to be mentioned was Marcus Gendoile, the author of Sirius's favorite book. His eyes lit up as he began to read.  
  
The young witch and wizard sat there most of the afternoon reading together until they both realized that time had flown by and it was already almost six. The rain had eased down a bit but had not fully stopped. 'What a wonderful summer day,' Hermione thought to herself. Hermione, now completing chapter 6, closed the book, set it neatly on her shelf, and looked over at Sirius. His eyes were reading quickly and attentively and pages were turning quicker then she ever imagined Sirius reading.  
  
"What's taken a hold of your interest so quickly, Sirius?" Hermione said eying him suspiciously. Sirius looked up.  
  
"Oh, it's this book. They have a whole chapter on Marcus Gendoile. Remember? The author of my favorite book? Lot's of stuff in here about him I never would have expected. Did you know that the part about finding a unicorn was true?" Hermione was smiling slightly at Sirius's animated face.  
  
"You know, that's what happens when you read." She explained. "You learn things." Then she stood up and walked towards the doorway. Turning back, she said: "Don't you worry about entertaining me now." She said convincingly. "Read as long as you want. I'll just be downstairs fixing dinner." With that she exited the room leaving Sirius down the hall in her desk chair reading a book for probably the first time in ages. What had the shadow been? He thought, his eyes drifting towards the window once more. 


	5. Getting Closer

Hermione was downstairs fishing through the cupboards and the refrigerator for something appetizing to eat. She called over to Sirius,  
  
"What do you want me to fix for dinner?" she yelled as her words echoed down the hall.  
  
"I don't know," he responded. "What do you have?"  
  
"Um..." she called back. "I could put in some frozen pizza if you want. It's pretty good."  
  
"Sounds great," Sirius said. He was starting to get hungry and thirsty as well. He stood up and headed for Hermione's bathroom to get a glass of water. It was cluttered in all sorts of debris: lotions, perfume, hairbrushes, make-up, toothpaste, etc. But Sirius actually liked it that way. It reminded him of the days back in high school when he'd go sneaking up to the girls dormitory with James under the invisibility cloak in search of anything interesting a teenage boy would love to get his hands on.  
  
Sirius grabbed a light blue glass and filled it up with water and chugged it down. Wiping his mouth, he headed down the hall to the kitchen where Hermione was sitting on the counter swinging her legs back and forth and waiting for the pizza to cook.  
  
"Hey, Sirius," She said to him as he walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Hey, you," he grinned walking towards her as he lifted himself onto the counter as well. "So, are you enjoying this? Or... would you rather I'd not have come..." Sirius asked out of true curiosity. He had been wondering whether or not this had been a good idea: to come to Hermione's house. After a while, he realized that Lupin would have been glad to take him in for a few months until he found somewhere to go.  
  
"Oh, it's been wonderful!" Hermione exclaimed, hoping she hadn't sounded too excited.  
  
"Really?" Sirius asked. "Because I--"  
  
"No, no of course. I love having you here to keep me company. I hope you decide to stay..." She paused. "...For a while." She ended holding her breath. Sirius nodded.  
  
"I'd hoped you'd felt that way," Sirius breathed with a sigh of relief.  
  
"Yes. Well, you know, after the past three days I've decided that we should owl Harry and Ron soon. And Dumbledore as well, perhaps." Hermione stated. "You know, they will be nothing but thrilled to find that you are safe." Sirius's heart slightly fell. He had thought about this. He knew that she was right, but the other part of him wanted anything but this. He knew if they did this then he would no longer be spending the summer with Hermione.  
"Yeah you're probably right." Sirius said. "Except..." he added. Hermione looked at him waiting for him to continue. He thought fast. "Maybe we shouldn't just yet. Because, you know there's a chance the letter will go astray. And if the ministry knew I was alive they would right away begin to search everywhere." He finished in one breath. Hermione looked at him thoughtfully.  
  
"I hadn't thought about that." She answered. "You're probably right. We should travel by floo powder to the burrow once we decide the time is right." Sirius breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Right then the oven beeped and Hermione jumped up to retrieve an oven mitt. She placed it over her hand and pulled out the cheese pizza. It smelled delicious.  
  
"I've never had pizza before," Sirius said to Hermione's surprise.  
  
"Are you serious? Never?"  
  
"Yup," he asserted truthfully. "Never in my life. Never really even had a chance to you see. Hogwarts would never serve food like that, and I was sent to Azkaban pretty much... right after I graduated, so..."  
  
"That's just sad. Well here, I hope you'll like it," she said gesturing his plate to him, which she had placed two slices of cheese pizza on. Sirius lifted it up in his hand and took a bite. 'Delicious!' he thought.  
  
"Wow. That's excellent," he said to Hermione. "My compliments to the chef." Sirius winked at her and she laughed picking up her own piece. After he had finished his two pieces and her as well, they headed back to her room. Sirius hopped onto Hermione's neatly made bed and lay against the pillows. He gestured for her to lie down next to him. She hesitated at first. What was this? Then he said "Come on, I don't bite," which gave Hermione no other option. She crawled over to him and lay down. They sat there for a few moments in silence and then Sirius spoke up.  
  
"Hermione, I have a question," Sirius said and she looked sideways at him as he spoke, a strand a black hair drooped across his eye perfectly. "Why is it you got into Gryffindor when you're so damn smart? Ravenclaw seems like it would have been the place for you."  
  
"I... well, I don't know exactly," was her response. "I guess... I just... I'm pretty defensive of the fact that I'm a muggleborn and I'm not at all ashamed to stand up to it. And, also, I've been through a lot, so I guess the fact that I've stood strong through it all helped me to get sorted into that house. I don't know, it's rather confusing." She yawned and laid back on the pillows. Sirius soaked this all in. She'd been through a lot? Hmm...  
  
"What sort of things have you been through, Hermione? If you don't mind me asking, that is..." She didn't respond. He turned to her and she was sound asleep. He smiled slightly. He lifted the extra pillows from behind her neck allowing her to get into a laying position. He then pulled the covers she was laying on out from under her and pulled them over her beautiful sleeping body. He ran his fingers down her cheek and her neck letting his fingers trace her smooth skin. She looked so incredibly peaceful. A strand of gold curly hair was lying down her cheek and he moved it away gently. Bending down towards her he placed a soft kiss on her cheek and he decided to stay in bed with her. 'Just to sleep,' he promised himself as his pulled himself under the covers now. Turning off the light, he turned to her again. Her beautiful sleeping face had only dim moonlight on it now. He leaned in again, now just about place his lips on hers, when he saw it once again. Across the room outside her window was a dark shadow of a figure. Only this time, it didn't move. 


	6. Mr Granger

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter or any of the characters in it! I am not JK Rowling, (nor am I as good of a writer as her.) So don't think for one second that I'm stealing anything!  
  
A/N: I've read a few new reviews and I'd just like to say, if you don't like my story, don't read it. I realize I've offended a person because I have created a story where an adult and a girl develop a relationship. Apparently this is statutory rape but I'd just like to say that no one's having sex and also if you haven't realized it yet, there are many stories on fanfiction.net, which involve adult/teen relationships. Cool. Enough said. Thank you. Sorry, just thought I'd make that clear. (For further info, read my reviews)   
  
Sirius stood up from the sleeping Hermione and walked towards the window cautiously and drew his wand, his heard pounding vigorously against his chest. He could tell the shadow was made by an actual being because of the way it abruptly destroyed the moonlight on Hermione's face. As he stepped closer he heard a rustling sound outside right below the window. 'Why does her room have to be on the first story,' he thought moving closer. Without further questioning, Sirius opened the window abruptly and looked outside. Sirius's heart stopped and for a moment he couldn't breathe.  
  
"James?" he whispered. A beautiful brown stag looked up at him from directly outside the window. The stag had obviously been eating out of the flower pots because Sirius noticed Hermione's yard had pretty much been reduced to nothing. Sirius's face was only about a foot away from the stag's and it stared at Sirius expressionless. Then it tilted its head looking into Sirius's face. When Sirius was about to speak to it one more time, it leaped away quick as lightning into a forest that went up a hill behind Hermione's house. Sirius was breathing hard and trembling. If that had been his childhood best friend, what was he doing hear and how could he possibly be alive? And if it wasn't, why did it look at him that way? Why didn't it run away the moment he opened the window? After a few more moments of pondering, Sirius realized it was useless to worry about now. He slowly walked towards the bed where Hermione was asleep and got in on the other side of her glancing back at the window every few moments to see if perhaps it had returned. It felt like hours before he finally fell asleep but he did.  
  
Next morning  
  
Sirius's eyes blinked open. He noticed that he was still wearing Hermione's Dad's clothes to his amusement. He turned to the clock: 8:48 p.m. The sun was beaming through Hermione's window and lit up her hair to its natural golden brown state. Then he turned to Hermione. He looked at her sleeping figure. She was lying on her stomach and on her right cheek on top of her right arm with her head facing him. She breathed deeply and Sirius thought to himself, 'Jeez this girl sleeps late.' He stood up and stretched and looked into the full-length mirror on the other side of the room. His sleek black hair was still perfect with the exception of a few strays in the back. The black t-shirt he was wearing was slightly wrinkled but tight hugging his nice body. He sighed and looked to the window again. He needed to figure out the mystery of this stag. But first, one question needed to be answered: Should he tell Hermione? He began walking towards Hermione's History of Magic book he had been reading when he heard voices heading towards Hermione's room down the hall. He quickly transformed into his animagus form and leaped onto the bed with Hermione pretending to be asleep. Her parents slowly opened the door.  
  
"What were you THINKING letting her take in a dog like that?!" Mr. Granger whispered loudly to Mrs. Granger.  
  
"Darling, he's a stray! Had no collar, or anything and he was outside her window and he's very, very smart." She whispered much quieter then him.  
  
"He will NOT be staying, I tell you!" Mr. Granger said to her.  
  
"Oh Peter, just let him stay for a few weeks," Mrs. Granger begged.  
  
"I'm sorry, Larissa I won't have it." He said stubbornly.  
  
"Now, dear don't be ridiculous. Once they wake up, you'll see. Hermione will show you how smart his is." Mrs. Granger remarked. 'Damn right I will,' Sirius thought.  
  
"Now, dear," she continued. "Don't make her rid of him so fast. She's really grown rather attached to him. What was it she named him.... Oh yes, Snuffles."  
  
"We'll see," said Mr. Granger giving "Snuffles" one last look and storming off. Sirius heard Mrs. Granger sigh. "Tell Hermione that when we get home tonight we'll be having a chat with her about that dog," He finished. Both parents then left for work. He told himself not to worry because he'd prove to Mr. Granger that he was very, verrry smart.  
  
A little while later, Hermione finally woke up stretching as Sirius had done and looking around for where Sirius was. There she saw Snuffles curled up in a ball next to her. He looked up at her and then, just as a real dog would have done, stood up and started panting happily and licking her on the face. Hermione laughed and looked at the clock. 9:30 a.m. She laughed again.  
  
"Sirius, you can be a human again. My parents left for work a half an hour ago." Hermione said. Sirius quickly transformed into a human sitting on his side.  
  
"How did you know?" he asked, referring to her comment about her parents being gone.  
  
"Oh, they always leave at nine. Never leave a note or anything. Oh well, thankfully I have you here. It's been really nice." She said smiling at him affectionately.  
  
"I won't be here very long if your Dad doesn't lighten up a bit," Sirius said smirking and running his hand through his hair. Hermione gave him a questioning look.  
  
"This morning, I heard them talking. Your Dad wants me out. Said I'll be out of here unless I proved I was worth something." Hermione's face fell but was lifted again after Sirius reassured her that he was.  
  
"Don't worry! It'll be fine. I am a smart dog."  
  
"Well I'm glad you've clarified that since I was having my doubts," Hermione said sarcastically laughing and pulling a curl to the side of her head to play with. Sirius's mind drifted off to the incident with the deer last night. If he wanted to tell her it was now or never.  
  
"Hermione," he said bringing his attention back to the moment. She looked up at him once again he was getting lost in her eyes.  
  
"Yeah, Sirius?"  
  
"I need to tell you something that happened last night." Sirius said importantly. A look of complete horror spread across Hermione's face.  
  
"We didn't like..." she hesitated for a moment. "Get drunk did we?" Now it was Sirius's turn to look horrified.  
  
"NO! NO! Of COURSE not!" Sirius exclaimed nervously.  
  
"Few," said Hermione sighing. "What did happen last night then?" Sirius, still trying to get over what she had just said, uttered under his breath exactly what had happened. He told her about how he had been seeing the shadow often and how this time he was able to discover that it was a stag. He told her the way it acted and how it ran away. He didn't yet mention how it looked exactly like James. Hermione was squinting at him during the entire story and at the end she let out an exasperated "Ohhh!" and smiled at Sirius again. He looked at her, confused.  
  
"Oh, Sirius. HIM. I see him all the time. He comes to my house a lot and eats my garden but I don't care because he's so nice to me. His name is James."  
  
Sirius gasped.  
  
Thanks for the reviews guys! Here are some responses:  
  
Pyrogirl4 : Thanks for being cool about the whole "similar story" thing. And sadly, NO it's not a real book or real author. I just put different names and words I've heard together to make it. Sorry to disappoint you!  
  
Fuzzfurry : Don't worry because I'm definitely writing more. I plan on updating pretty much every day for a while.  
  
Zaralya: Thank you!! Another good Sirius/Hermione fic is called "Sirius?" and its written by tATu-Black. You'll like it I think.  
  
Rane2920072: Thanks for all the reviews! Hope you like this new chapter. 


	7. The Moment

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! Very much appreciated.... Continue! Here's another chapter for you! It has a little more love as well....  
  
Sirius gasped.  
  
"His name is WHAT?" Sirius exclaimed. Hermione was rather taken aback by his sudden yelling.  
  
"James." She answered, slightly confused at Sirius's sudden mood change.  
  
"But how do you KNOW that's his name? He never told you..." Sirius asked, still utterly bewildered that Hermione had known this random deer by the name of James.  
  
"Well he sort of did, Sirius. Goodness, what does it matter to you if the stag's name is James?" Hermione asked in defense of the poor stag.  
  
"BeCAUSE Hermione!" Sirius yelled getting slightly frustrated now with Hermione's inanity. "Hasn't Harry ever told you? Harry's father was an Annimagus! Harry's father was my best friend! Harry's Father's name was James and his Animagus form was a stag! Don't you see?" Sirius finished with a loud sigh as he turned away running his hand through his hair in irritation. Hermione gasped and look at the window for a moment which was directly behind Sirius as if trying to remember something and then turned to face Sirius once more. She had a look of sudden enlightenment on her face.  
  
"Oh! Sirius. I never even thought of that... Because, well James always visits my window... and- and- well, he's just my deer friend. He's never turned into a human or anything. That would be—that would be – well, impossible! He's just... James!" she replied. Sirius was staring at her now as if waiting for her to say more.  
  
"He.. he... Oh my! Sirius, no... He couldn't possibly be an Animagus. I told you before! He's just a stag who eats my plants sometimes... I just talk to him about pretty much nothing... I mean, really..."  
  
"How did you find out his name? Did you just decide to name him that?" Sirius asked intently.  
  
"No, no, I didn't name him. He already had that name." She answered as Sirius glared at her with confusion. "It's because, Okay. The very first time I saw him in my yard I was kind of afraid, but he walked towards my window and just looked at me and something about the face he made let me know that he was nice and wouldn't hurt me. I asked him his name. Then, I was rather amazed, he walked up to one of those trees up the hill you see and knocked on the tree with his head forcing several leaves to fall to the ground. Then he looked at me as if waiting for something, I assumed he wanted me to see the leaves so I walked towards them. They had fallen in the form of the letters J-A-M-E-S. I thought it was just an accident or my eyes were being idiots. But, from then on that's what I've called him." Hermione finished with a satisfying look on her face. Sirius was amazed. He didn't understand what this meant. If everything Hermione said was accurate, then that meant that this stag just had to be James. However, if Hermione was wrong and just thought that the leaves had spelt out James' name, this still was no ordinary animal.  
  
"We'll need to look into this," Sirius told her.  
  
"Okay. But he only comes every couple weeks," Hermione said worriedly. Sirius sighed.  
  
"Well there's nothing we can do except wait." Sirius said still kind of anxious about the whole incident.  
  
"Don't worry about it Sirius. What should we do to get your mind off it?" she said rubbing his back to comfort him.  
  
"I – oh I don't know," he answered looking down. "You want to go for a walk?" he asked her looking up again.  
  
"I'd love to."  
  
Sirius and Hermione decided to go for a walk up the hill in hopes that they would perhaps run into James. Sirius and Hermione started walking up under trees, around stumps and rocks and on top of leaves covering the muddy ground. At one point Hermione slipped and Sirius grasped hold of her hand to prevent her from falling. They never let go. 'It's just a friend sort of hand-holding,' they lied to themselves.  
  
"So how's life, Hermione?" Sirius asked swinging her arm back and forth gently as he held her hand.  
  
"Oh, it's all right. I always miss Harry and Ron in the summer, though. I'm always pretty lonely in the summer actually. But, hey I shouldn't be talking. Last year you were ALL alone in Grimauld Place for the entire summer," she said sympathetically. "That surely couldn't have been easy for a energetic man like yourself." Sirius laughed at this statement.  
  
"It wasn't so bad. I got used to it. Hey, I had Kreacher right? But anyway, Have Harry and Ron been all right?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Oh, well I haven't talked to them for a while. I owled them a few days ago before you arrived so I should be expecting a response any time now." Hermione had been missing her two best friends. They had been through so much together at the end of their fifth year and they hadn't been able to talk much ever since.  
  
They continued their walk up the hill and ended up reaching a downhill point to their delight. After quite a long while they decided they should turn around. They began walking back when they realized that they didn't recognize this new path.  
  
"Where are we?" Hermione asked Sirius hoping he had the slightest clue.  
  
"I haven't the faintest idea," Sirius stated matter-of-factly. Hermione began stomping down a hill in annoyance when she slid and landed on he back. She let out a loud "ugh!" as Sirius rushed to help her. Hermione attempted to get up after first rolling onto her stomach as Sirius put his hands on her waist. But Hermione fell again forcing Sirius to fall as well. The both of them laid there for a moment staring at each others muddiness before they burst out laughing at the situation.  
  
"Great." Said Sirius with a sarcastic grin on his face. "We're muddy, we're in the middle of a forest, and we have no idea where we are." Sirius flicked a huge chunk of mud out of his hair.  
  
"Crap," said Hermione staring over out at him.  
  
"Literally," said Sirius still trying to get the mud out of his hair only forcing more in. Sirius moaned in frustration and collapsed in the mud now allowing the entire back of his head to be soaked as well.  
  
"Here, let me help," laughed Hermione. She leaned over him and he looked into her beautiful bronze eyes, which were focused on his hair. She brushed some of the chunks of mud out of his hair with her semi-clean hand. Suddenly, realizing Sirius was gazing at her pensively, she stopped. She gazed back. His eyes were strong and passionate. He slowly placed a hand, still only slightly dirty, around her neck, not taking his gaze off of hers. Then, placing a hand around her waste Sirius rolled her over so that she was on her back and he was on top. Sirius realized this was his moment to prove his feelings to her. He leaned down closing his eyes and kissed Hermione softly on the lips and kept it for two or three seconds. Sirius lifted his head up and opened his eyes for a moment to see if it was right. She just looked at him affectionately and he kissed her again; this time with passion and promise. He kept his eyes shut not wanting to ruin the moment if it was only a dream. He slipped his arms around her waste and held her close and she put her hands behind his neck and kissed back longingly. She pulled him closer to her, closing the small gap that was left between them. After a few more wonderful moments, they both broke apart and looked at each other. Sirius was breathing hard and Hermione was holding her breath, when suddenly she breathed it out in one word: "no," she whispered. 


	8. Dead or Alive?

Sirius looked down at her in slow confusion.  
  
"Hermione... you're kidding right? I mean you--"  
  
"No," she repeated. "I meant it." Sirius slowly lifted off of her as she looked at him in a knowing apology. He gingerly sat down next to her not really noticing the mud anymore. He sighed resting his elbows on his knees and running his hands through his hair in distress. She looked sad as she turned to him awkwardly. He didn't notice. She knew what she was doing though. This was an impossible relationship... and she couldn't go falling in love with thirty-five year old man who just came back to life! Could she? She sighed again and reached over to gently touch his hand, which was resting on his head still. He pulled it away and turned away from her again. Hermione was taken aback by his fierce gesture. How could she do that to him? Completely lead him on and then just say "no"? That's not right. Didn't his feelings mean anything to her?  
  
"Come on, Sirius," Hermione begged quietly. "You--" "'No'?!" Sirius exclaimed to her in a loud mock tone. She could hear the pain in his voice. "Why?" he then whispered now laying his head in his arms.  
  
"Look... I... we... we just can't," she said. "I still care about you. I don't want you to leave... you... you,"  
  
"You know what that's actually a good idea," Sirius said sounding as though he had just came to his senses.  
  
"What?" Hermione asked in desperation.  
  
"No. I can't stay here... when I- I- I've..." Sirius tried to keep himself from using the word 'love.' "...When I've obtained some really strong feelings for you that you don't return," Sirius finished confidently nodding his head, still not facing her. Hermione looked down and felt terrible for hurting him.  
  
"But Sirius, I- I mean—please don't go," she whispered putting her hand on his face and turning him to face her. He looked at her for a moment but then shook her hand off his cheek. He was hurting but he didn't want it to show anymore. Maybe then he wouldn't feel it as much.  
  
"I'll go to Lupin's," Sirius added now standing up and brushing off some of the mud. He put a hand down towards Hermione to help her up and she accepted as Sirius pulled her up with his strong arms. Sirius, now bravely looking her in the eye said, "I'll apparate for Lupin's as soon I help you find your way back." Hermione felt tears welling up in her eyes but she forced them back. It had only been a few days and it had been so wonderful. Sirius was one of the only guys she knew who she could have a mature conversation with, besides Ron and Harry. Summer would be so lonely without him, but she forced herself to follow him home.  
  
They wandered around for quite a while searching for Hermione's house or for any form of glimmering light. It felt like ages and Hermione and Sirius both felt day fading away, but finally they made it back before Hermione's parents got home and before sunset. Before they walked in the back door, they just looked at each other and breathed. Hermione wanted to embrace him and never let go. She wanted to run to him and apologize for everything she said to him and tell him she would be his. But, no. She just couldn't. It would never work. Plus...  
  
"Hermione," Sirius called as he was turning to walk away. "Thank you for having me. It was fun." Sirius gave her a slight smile and she could see a twinkle in his eye. Then, in the blink of an eye, Sirius vanished. Hermione held her breath and walked in the door and collapsed on her bed. Her heart ached.  
  
Sirius was standing in Lupin's kitchen and Lupin, who was reading the Daily Prophet and sipping some coffee looked up at Sirius, utterly shocked. Sirius was looking at him in a look of pain and heartbreak, but not for the reason Lupin suspected.  
  
"Sirius!" Lupin cried out, setting his paper and coffee down abruptly and standing. Before Sirius could say anything, Lupin embraced him in a strong, intimate hug. Sirius hugged back. He was sure that Lupin was depressed these past few weeks with the thought that Sirius had died, having been his best friend for twenty-five years. Lupin pulled away with his hands on Sirius's shoulders and looked at him in bewilderment and happiness at the same time. "What happened, Sirius?"  
  
"I...." Sirius knew that Lupin had wanted to know about the veil. So Sirius began with that. He explained to Lupin exactly what happened: how he fell into darkness and was the veil touched him he felt revived from the curse Lestrange and used on him. Then he explained how when he got out it seemed as though it had just happened but he looked at an enchanted calendar and he knew it was two weeks ahead of time to his surprise. Lupin was astounded. He could not believe what he heard and he couldn't stop gaping. Sirius kind of laughed, although he felt uneasy.  
  
"We must inform Dumbledore, Harry, and Weasley... Oh and Hermione!" Lupin said not yet realizing that her name had more of an affect on him then he would expect. Suddenly Lupin saw the pain in Sirius's eyes and he looked at him with concern. "Sirius what's wrong? They didn't hurt you did they?"  
  
"Well, THEY didn't..." Sirius said.  
  
"What?" Lupin asked looking at him confused and observing him up and down as though looking for some sort wound, when suddenly Sirius spoke.  
  
"I went to Hermione's house first, Lupin. I got out of the veil about a week ago," Sirius said looking at him with some sort of guilt look on his face.  
  
"Okay..." Lupin said as though he was in the process of solving some sort of mystery. "And what happened there?"  
  
"Well... we- we- I mean, we talked a lot. Her parents said she could take me in. You know, take in Snuffles. And, we got to know each other better. She's, she's really an amazing person." Sirius stuttered and Lupin watched him, eyebrows raised.  
  
"We, okay we saw a stag and she said she sees it a lot and that it's name is James so I thought it might be... you know... James," Lupin was now staring at Sirius as though he was a crazy person. Sirius continued. "...So we went on a walk looking for it, I guess, and we both fell in the mud, and we – we kissed." Lupin opened his mouth as if about to say something when Sirius wanted to get his argument in first. "After I was done, she just said 'no' and things like, 'it will never work.' I decided that it wouldn't be a good idea if I stayed so I came here. She was really lovely! And, we didn't do anything except kiss." Sirius said in one breath. Lupin was shaking his head at Sirius with a small smile on his face.  
  
"Oh.... Sirius." Lupin let out a small laugh. "Oh.... Merlin.... Sirius.... Haha. You. You never have been one to like girls your own age."  
  
"No, Remus you don't understand. It's not like that. It's not like those relationships from when I was still a teenager at Hogwarts. I was young and stupid then. This is - " Lupin cut him off.  
  
"You're still young, Sirius," Lupin stated, not to Sirius's surprise. "I doubt you'll ever grow up completely. Because to be able to grow up, you have to want to." Sirius thought about this and he knew Lupin was right.  
  
"Do you think I could ever make this relationship work?" Sirius asked Lupin, taking a sip of his coffee.  
  
"I don't know, you need to talk to her about it. And we need to talk about this whole James the Stage thing... but first, you'll want to take a look at this." Lupin handed Sirius the Daily Prophet. Sirius looked at the title of the front page and his eyes grew wide:  
  
"House Burnt to the Crisp on Privet Drive. Harry Potter: Dead or Alive?"  
  
"LUPIN!! BUT – YOU...."  
  
"I know, I know," Lupin said calmly. "Frankly, I don't think he is dead." But this was no relief to Sirius. Harry could never be dead. Sirius's mind was going crazy and his head was spinning. How did this happen? Why did this happen? When? Who did it? Sirius was not going to let this pass. He needed to do something. And fast.  
  
Responses to reviews:  
  
Hp-lover-fifi: Thank you! And in answer to your question about how the ministry is still searching for Sirius, they aren't really still searching for him. But if they find out that his is alive, they, being the ministry who hates everyone, will assume that his used dark magic and use anything as an excuse to return him to Azkaban.  
  
Rogue mystique: Thanks!!  
  
Fuzz furry: hehe.. You'll find out! Thanks for all the reviews  
  
Isnani: Lol! Thanks for all the reviews. 


	9. Finding

Sirius grabbed the paper from Lupin and stared at it blankly while Lupin stared at him calmly.  
  
"Sirius, there's no need to worry. Honestly, do you actually think there's a possibility that an intelligent young wizard like Harry couldn't find a way to sescape something as simple as fire?"  
  
"I know, but it says here that no one's been able to find him," Sirius read on only to discover that all three of the Dursley's were found by muggle police giggling hysterically inside the fire. Apparently they were taken to a hospital and then an Insane asylum. Sirius right away smiled at this, beause he knew Harry had of course performed the fire- repelling charm on his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin and then of course he had to have performed it on himself as well. Sirius pointed this out to Lupin only to find Lupin shaking his head at Sirius and saying, "what did I tell you..."  
  
"Yeah, sorry." Said Sirius clearing his throat. "He probably just went to the Burrow."  
  
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Lupin said picking up his coffee from the table and taking another sip. "We'll find him," said Lupin with a "no-doubt-about-it" tone in his voice.  
  
"Let's find him now," Sirius said quickly interrupted by Lupin.  
  
"Not yet. We'll have nowhere to start if we don't do a bit of research first, at least finish the article," Lupin told Sirius. Sirius heaved a sigh at Lupin who was now turning the pages in his newspaper once again mumbling something about how the Ministry never thinks before they allow things to be poser in the Daily Prophet, when Sirius cleared his throat to get Lupin's attention. He looked up.  
  
"I'm going to find Harry. Are you coming?"  
  
"Sirius come on – you--" Lupin attempted to dissuade Sirius which seemed useless.  
  
"Are. You. Coming.?" Said Sirius again. Lupin rolled his eyes, stood up, and with one meet of each other's eyes, they had apparted to Number 4 Privet Drive. The house was no longer there and replaced by a pile of ashes. Many muggle men were there cleaning and had not noticed Lupin and Sirius's sudden presence. They scrutinized the area for any sign of Harry. A book, a quill, anything. But they had no luck.  
  
"Can I help you gents?" called a slightly chubby man striding over to them. Sirius and Lupin looked at each other hesitantly and then at the man.  
  
"Er..." said Sirius, quickly saved by Lupin.  
  
"Yes we were wondering if you knew anything about what happened to the family that lived here." Lupin stated contently. Sirius nodded and the man began to answer.  
  
"Well, I don't know much myself, to tell you the truth. No on can even recall as to how the fire started either." Sirius and Lupin already knew the answer to this part because of the Daily Prophet's article. 6 words: He-who-must-not-be-named.  
  
"And well," the man continued. "It was a family of four, I guess. Three of 'em were still here by the time the firemen reached the house. Somehow, the three of 'em didn't catch fire despite the fact they were lying right in it. In fact they found it rather amusing..." Lupin gave Sirius an uneasy look but Sirius just smiled. "...and the other, well, we don't know anything about him except that he didn't die."  
  
"How do you know that he didn't die?" Sirius asked looking at the man intently as though questioning his honesty.  
  
"Well because! Because we found no body or bones anywhere and believe me, we searched..." he shook his head in confusion. "It's okay though. At least no one lost their life. Hope their house was insured..."  
  
"Okay, well thank you," said Lupin nodding at the man nervously. "We'll just be going then."  
  
"And thank you for your assistance," added Sirius, bowing sarcastically, but the man didn't notice the sarcasm.  
  
"Well it was my pleasure. Nice meeting you gents." And with that, the man stolled off to talk to a different man cleaning up Harry's now non- existant home.  
  
"Where should we go to search first?" asked Lupin tiredly, looking at his watch. He was only in navy blue sweatpants, a white T-shirt and a robe. Obviously before Sirius had arrived he was just getting ready to go to bed.  
  
"The Weasley's," Sirius stated. Lupin nodded.  
  
"All right, then. You know they'll be rather surprised to see you mate. Try not to... you know... scare 'em too much." Sirius smiled, and with that they were off. A moment later they both landed hard on the Weasley's kitchen floor. Mrs. Weasley's back was to them and she was scrubbing a plate.  
  
"Fred and George! What did I tell you about apparating down the stairs? You KNOW there is no purpose to-"She turned around still holding the plate, to face Fred and George only to meet eyes with Sirius and Lupin. Mrs. Weasley gasped and the plate she'd been washing went crashing to the floor. She didn't even glance at it.  
  
"Sirius!" She cried. "Oh my goodness! How-?" She didn't have time to finish her own sentence because she embraced him in a huge bear-like hug. Lupin smiled while pointing his wand at the dropped plate and muttering, "Arculus Reparo." Mrs. Weasley began fixing Sirius's hair with her hand and brushing away dust on his shirt. Or... Hermione's dad's shirt. "Sirius! How are you alive? My goodness! When Ron finds out he wil be..." she trailed off and Sirius's mind drifted to other things. "Oh and hello Lupin!" Mrs. Weasley said turning to him and smiling. Before he could answer she had scurried over the the stairs to call up them. "Ronald!!! Get down here this instant!" she said trying to sound angry, but you could hear the happiness in her voice.  
  
Ron came sprinting down the stairs a moment later, his eyebrows raised at his mother's funny look of joy, when his eyes drifted to Sirius. His face turned from already pale with freckles, to pure white. Sirius gave him a small smile and Ron's eyes only grew wider.  
  
"How did you...?" He trailed off now squinting at Sirius. Sirius rolled his shoulders back and looked around uncomfortably when Ron cried out, "YOUR ALIVE! HE'S ALIVE! HARRY!!!!" Ran called grinning madly looking from the stairs to Sirius, hugging him. Ron ran to the stairs and called up to Harry, "HARRY!! Sirius is HERE!!! He's HERE!!! He's not dead!! He's alive! He- he- he -" Right at the moment Harry was standing beside Ron staring at Sirius. Sirius stared back. Ron and Mrs. Weasley were both grinning madly and Lupin was leaning against the counter top watching them, waiting for one to move.  
  
"I- Sirius, I thought you'd gone," breathed Harry, his heart beating very fast. He looked confused. Sirius smiled.  
  
"You can't get rid of me that easily," Sirius said laughing softly. Then, Harry's first smile in nearly three weeks covered his face and he ran to Sirius pulled him into a father-son embrace. Harry didn't know how it'd happened. He didn't know why Sirius was here, but he did know that he was. His godfather was here, with him, and he would never leave. Harry, while hugging Sirius, could think about nothing else except the fact that he's never felt so happy in his entire life. 


	10. What Happened

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update everyone! A week is pretty long for me.. I know... it's because I have final exams next week so I've been studying! Also, HP3 came out so I definitely have been paying attention to that as well. Anyway, here's a new chapter for you! Hope you like it...  
  
Hermione's POV  
  
Hermione sat at her desk confused, turning around in her desk chair in circles thinking. Why had she said no? She knew that deep down in her heart it was wrong. He was too old for her. He was her best friends godfather! No way could this happen. However, love is love. If you love someone, should all the minor aspects and defects be able to overcome it? But Hermione didn't even know is this was love. After all, he had only been there for a few days. She stood up and went to her book bag and retrieved Hogwarts a History and opened it to a random page entitled: "Secrets of the Staircase," and began to read. She flipped through all the pages reading page after page trying to get her mind of Sirius but she just couldn't stop thinking about the way he just left. This summer was going to be boring without him. Suddenly she slammed the book shut and looked out her bedroom window at the night sky. Crickets chirped and leaves swished in the night window. How she wished Sirius was there to hold her!  
  
She walked to her window and opened it to breathe in the night air. She looked up the hill her and Sirius had walked up only to see James. He trotted down the hill and over to her window and began eating the flowers in the flowerbed directly below it. She smiled.  
  
"You're not really James Potter, are you? You silly stag. That just happens to be your name as well, doesn't it?" she spoke to him playfully. Crookshanks crawled out from under Hermione's bed and leapt up to the windowsill to have a look at James as well. Hermione stroked his neck while watching James. "You do look a lot like the patronous Harry made though. But all deer look the same anyhow... right?" she questioned him playfully. It couldn't be James. It was all just a coincidence. After James finished eating the flowers he lay down on the stone ground outside the window and looked up at Hermione again thoughtfully. Suddenly Hermione had a brilliant idea.  
  
She stood up really quickly, Crookshanks leaping down after her to keep her company. Hermione fished through her school bags, which she hadn't even completely emptied yet and finally she found a fabulous picture of Harry. He was sitting in the common room with Hedwig smiling at the camera and petting his owl. She picked it up and strode back over to the stag who was still lying there and staring at her questioningly. She held out the photo to him.  
  
"Do you know this person?" she asked him delicately. The deer looked at it for a long moment. Hermione didn't move while holding out the photo, waiting for some form of response. Suddenly, he gripped the photograph in his mouth and leapt off up the hill and into the night without turning back for even a brief moment. Hermione was scared stiff. She didn't know what this meant. Everyone knew James Potter was dead. Didn't they? She needed to contact Sirius, somehow, but she didn't know how that would be possible. He had just left and she had no idea where he was by now. And even if she did, she had no way of getting there. She pulled down her covers and got into bed. She would sleep on it.  
  
Sirius's POV  
  
It seemed like his and Harry's hug had lasted forever, however it still didn't seem long enough. When they finally let go, Harry was still staring at Sirius in an unbelieving and amazed way. He hadn't changed much in the past few weeks that they were apart. Sirius looked at Harry deeply. His scar was exactly the same as it had always been. His messy hair, fair skin, and long face reminded him so much of James that it was heartbreaking. His bright green eyes, which shone with happiness, resembled Lily's as well as they looked over Sirius in a protective fashion.  
  
"What happened, Sirius? Why aren't you dead?" Harry asked, his hand still gripping Sirius's shoulder. Sirius didn't mind explaining it once more because he wanted his godson to know everything.  
  
"I'm not dead because even though the Cruatious Curse hit me right in the heart, the veil is oppressed with strong, strong magic which with one touch can save you from whatever you please. The moment I feel below the veil in a bright blue room, I felt no pain except that on my back from hitting the ground so hard." Sirius smiled and Harry chuckled uneasily. The whole Weasley family was watching the two intently, listening to Sirius's story as well. He continued. "I lost my wand in the darkness after the lights went out and searched for it for quite some time. After feeling it on the ground I held it up towards the hole that I had fallen through and I did a spell to lift myself back up. After I had reached the top again, somehow, two weeks had gone by." Everyone in the room looked completely astounded at this last statement.  
  
"But Sirius," Ron asked entering the conversation. "How is it possible that two weeks could have gone by?"  
  
"I... don't know," Sirius replied truthfully, while shaking his head. "Perhaps it's only another power in which the veil possesses."  
  
Harry's POV  
  
Harry still couldn't believe what was happening. He was happy but something about it didn't seem real. How was it possible that his dead godfather was alive? How was it possible that a veil saved him from an unforgivable curse? Even though the questions continue, Harry can't deny that he's glad he has questions like these. His worst nightmare was over.  
  
"Well dears," said Mrs. Weasley beckoning Harry, Sirius, and Lupin to her. "Why don't we all head into the sitting room and I'll fix us some tea and biscuits. Then we should probably think about getting some sleep after such an eventful day," Mrs. Weasley finished while bustling everyone into the sitting and then proceeding to the kitchen to fix the large amount of tea and biscuits which needed to be prepared. Harry could tell in Sirius's eyes that this sounded absoloutly wonderful. He assumed Sirius hadn't eaten for quite some time. Sirius, Lupin, Harry, and all the Weasley's found their way into the crowded sitting room. There was a small coffee table in between three easy-chairs which were scattered amongst two fluffy purple couches, all on top of a rustic wood floor covered in what appeared to be a crocheted rug. Sirius and Lupin sat next to each other on the couch and Harry sat next to Sirius closely joined by Ron, who was staring at Sirius quite a bit as well.  
  
"Hello, Lupin," Harry said to Lupin as he sat down. Lupin smiled at Harry.  
  
"I hope you've been having a good summer Harry. I saw you in the Daily Prophet earlier this evening," Lupin said to Harry, eyebrows raised. Harry smiled weakly went slightly pink at this memory. He knew many people must know about that night. "Would you care to tell me what happened?" Harry now felt that he had no choice and began to explain.  
  
"All right. Well, you probably know a good lot of it... I don't know how it began exactly," Harry began watching Lupin's interested expression. "I was just up in my room doing homework, when I heard a really loud crashing sound downstairs. At first I really didn't care, but when I heard my Aunt screaming really loudly downstairs, I had to go see what was the matter. So I went down only to find out that things were blowing up all around them and a window was broken and the door was open. I tried to get them to explain to me what happened but they were all so scared that the only words any of them could say was, 'dark figure.' I knew right then that it was Voldermort." Everyone in the room except Sirius and Lupin flinched at the name. Harry continued. "A few moments later the house caught fire from who-knows-what, and first I did the fire repelling charm on my aunt, uncle, and cousin that Moody taught me a while back, and then I quickly got on my Firebolt and left for Ron's before any newscasters could question me," none of the Weasley's looked surprised by this story because they had already heard it once. But Harry could see that Lupin and Sirius were quite horror-struck by this.  
  
"So, Voldermort tried to set you on fire?" Lupin asked.  
  
"Yeah," said Harry. Fred quickly stood up and looked at Harry.  
  
"Yeah, the stupid bloke actually thought that he could kill Harry with fire," everyone in the room laughed except Lupin, Harry wasn't exactly sure why.  
  
"Clearly Voldermort hasn't had it easy with you, Harry. Someday, you'll show him what you're made of," Sirius said clapping him on the back. Harry smiled.  
  
"Now, now, Sirius..." said Mrs. Weasley entering the room with everyone's tea and biscuits. As she distributed them she looked at Sirius scolding. "You shouldn't encourage Harry to get revenge, now." Sirius rolled his eyes which made Harry laugh inside. He knew that Sirius was only joking. Mrs. Weasley made everyone such a big deal. Sirius and Harry looked at each other and smirked while Ron stuffed his face with biscuits. "It's about time to go to sleep you lot," said Mrs. Weasley picking up cups and plates as quickly as she gave them out. "Sirius and Lupin; you two can have the guest room and Harry can bunk with Ron and the twins. All right, everyone get to bed." Harry said goodnight to Lupin and Sirius with one last hug and was off to bed. While lying in bed, Harry couldn't stop thinking about Sirius. He was in the same house as him! It was still unbelievable to him. Fascinating; but unbelievable.  
  
Sirius's POV  
  
"Goodnight, Sirius." Said Lupin, pulling the turquoise woolen covers over him and drifting off to sleep.  
  
"Good night," said Sirius, not all paying attention to Lupin. His mind was on other things. He was so pleased to be back near Harry again so that he could protect him. He was also thinking about Prongs. Was the stag at Hermione's house James? It was so hard to tell. He needed to find out more. He missed Hermione dearly. Why had she said no? Sirius still couldn't understand why such a passionate kiss had been turned into such a guilty hole in his heart. I need to owl her, Sirius thought. He really did miss her so very much... 


	11. The Letter

A/N: Hey guys! Okay, not this chapter, but the next is going to partially explain my stag. Okay? You'll probably still be a little confused, but hopefully it will satisfy you for a while because I'm going to focus a little bit more and the Hermione/Sirius relationship. Hope you all liked the new movie!   
  
Sirius awoke the next morning from the sun shining on his face. He looked over at Lupin. He was still sound asleep.  
  
"He sure needs it," Sirius said to himself now standing up and stretching. Suddenly, Sirius remembered his dream. It was about the stag. And Hermione. And they were... Sirius began hitting his head quite hard as though attempting to remember the rest. He couldn't. He needed to bring Harry to Hermione's house to maybe, well, talk to it or something. He needed to find out more about this. Sirius walked over the the desk and searched around for some parchment and a quill. He opened the drawers and finally came across some parchment and a magic quill. He began writing very fast.  
  
_Dear Hermione,  
  
I miss you. I don't know what happened the other day but I needed to communicate with you. I'm at the Burrow right now. First I was with Remus but then we heard something about 4 Privet Drive burning down so we went to check it out and found out that Harry was safe at Ron's house. Harry and Ron were so surprised that I was alive. So was Remus. You should have seen the way they looked at me. I just thought I'd check up on you. Maybe you could come to the Burrow as well? I would most enjoy that. Write back soon.  
  
Sirius  
_  
Sirius then folded the letter up and gave it to Pigwigeon who was fluttering around outside by the window and appeared to be playing with a hummingbird of some sort. Sirius then sent it off and prayed that he would receive a response by the end of the day. Sirius heard Lupin stirring in his sleep and muttering something about potions when suddenly he woke up.  
  
"Sirius! You're alive! You... I thought it was a dream or something." Sirius laughed.  
  
"Yes, I'm alive. No dream," Sirius pushed his hair back and stared at Remus. He looked like he could have used more sleep. He had dark rings under his eyes and his hair was all ruffled.  
  
"Of course. I hope you slept well?"  
  
"Oh yes, fine." Sirius actually had slept pretty well, despite the poky springs on the Weasley's twin beds, the comforters were rather nice. "Let's go down to the kitchen. I'm starving."  
  
When they reached the kitchen, Sirius and Lupin found that all the Weasley's: the twins, Ron, Ginny, and Molly, were all already eating, and Harry as well. When the two men reached the kitchen, everyone was bustling around in their seats reaching for eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, toast, and so on. Scrambled eggs were spinning around the room and a piece of bacon dove into Sirius's mouth. The kitchen was a madhouse but Sirius and Lupin liked it.  
  
"Good morning, you two! I hope you slept well! Now here are some seats for you," Mrs. Weasley shoved two chairs into the table, cramming it even more then it already was. "You two best help yourselves to anything you like. I'm sure you're very hungry." Harry looked over at Sirius and blinked a few times first before grinning widely at his godfather. Sirius smiled back while putting two pieces of bacon onto his plate and a small stack of toasted French bread. Lupin took a sausage and one piece of toast and some orange juice.  
  
"We slept great," Lupin said. Sirius didn't bother to say he didn't since it wasn't her fault he slept badly. "This sausage is fantastic, Molly, thank you."  
  
"Harry, how are you doing?" Sirius asked his Godson.  
  
"Great, never better," Harry said truthfully.  
  
"How's Hedwig? I haven't gotten a letter from her in a while," Sirius laughed.  
  
"She's great," Harry said taking a bite of toast but not taking his eyes off Sirius.  
  
"Harry hand me the potatoes," Ron said, his mouth full. Harry handed them to him. "You know," Ron continued, stuffing more food in his mouth, "we ought to invite Hermione shouldn't we, Harry?" Harry was about to answer when Sirius spilled his coffee all over the table and every stood up to keep from being dripped on.  
  
"Sorry," Sirius said loudly. "How clumsy of me." He quickly did a spell to clean it all up and he apologized to Mrs. Weasley again.  
  
"You all right, Sirius?" Harry said, standing up immediately and looking at Sirius tensely and protectively.  
  
"No worries, dear. But is something the matter?" Mrs. Weasley asked Sirius affectionately.  
  
"No, no, I'm just still a bit tired that's all," Sirius said wringing his hands together nervously. But Mrs. Weasley didn't notice.  
  
"Ohhh, I'm sure you are, dear," Mrs. Weasley patted him on the shoulder and they all sat back down again.  
  
"Harry, you wanna go for a walk around the garden after breakfast?" Sirius asked. He had some catching up to do with his Godson and there were some other things as well that he needed to know...  
  
"Oh, yeah, of course," Harry said, his eyes glowing.  
  
"Great," Sirius said.  
  
"As I was saying," Ron said looking around the table. Sirius sighed silently. It was no use. "Maybe we ought to have Hermione for a while. Harry we need her help on our homework anyway."  
  
"Yeah, definitely. Our potions homework is absoloutly ridiculous. There is no way we could get any ingredients for a memory potion around here."  
  
"But knowing Hermione she probably keeps that stuff around the house for fun to help her memorize books with or something," said Ron. Mrs. Weasley eyed him scoldingly.  
  
"Well," she said, "that girl is always welcome in my home. She's absoloutly wonderful to be around and incredibly gifted in witchcraft," Mrs. Weasley said while brushing some crumbs from the table. Sirius shifted in his chair and prayed silently that this wouldn't happen.  
  
"Well then let's do it," said Fred. "We could always use another person to test our new Brains Always gumdrops on. I'm sure she'd looovvee those, eh George?"  
  
"Oh yeah Fred. She'd LOVE them," George said. The twins laughed but all Sirius could think about is her being with him again except in the Weasley's house instead. He wasn't sure he could handle it.  
  
"I'll mail her right now," Ron said, standing up and pulling out some parchment and beginning to scribble down something quickly. When he'd finished Ron looked out the window.  
  
"Mum, where's Errol?" Ron said looking out the window confusedly while squinting his eyes in the sunlight.  
  
"Well she was hear this morning when she brought some checks from the Ministry for Father..." Mrs. Weasley mumbled while walking over to the window to look with Ron. Sirius was getting nervous by the second. At that very moment, Errol flew through the open window between Ron and Mrs. Weasley and landed with a thud and a mad flutter of feathers on Sirius's lap. Sirius took the letter, slowly and awkwardly as Errol hobbled out the window and flew obliquely into the morning sky. Sirius opened the letter quickly while everyone watched him curiously as he read his letter.  
  
_Sirius,  
  
I've missed you as well. I'm sorry I was short with you, I don't know what's the matter with me but hopefully I can manage to explain it all later. Our few days together were fantastic and hopefully this summer we can spend more. Talk to the Weasley's about my coming to stay for a while. Thanks for writing. It's been rather lonely without you.  
  
Yours truly, Hermione_  
  
Sirius looked up slowly uneasily as everyone's eyes stared silently at him, waiting for a response or some sort of explanation.  
  
_Uh-Oh_, Sirius thought. He definitely did have some explaining to do. 


	12. Harry Let In

A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry I didn't update for so long! I went to England and Ireland for two weeks. I saw tons of HP filming sites it was awesssommme! I saw where the filmed the Chamber, and the place where the troll walked by, and Snapes classroom... all very cool... Well here you go, hope you like it!   
  
Sirius cleared his throat and scratched his head as he slowly began folding the letter back up into as many little squares as he could manage thinking for a moment that if one of the tables occupants managed to seize it, their reading it would at least be delayed by the dozens of folds. Suddenly Mrs. Weasley decided to speak.  
  
"Sirius, did you decide to borrow Errol for something?" she said smiling kindly, ready to give him her full support of whatever it was he was doing. After a moment of thinking about what he should say, Sirius responded.  
  
"Er- well, I ... erm..." Sirius trailed off and Mrs. Weasley kept smiling at him patiently and it bothered Sirius very much. Sirius was about to crack and tell the entire table about his days at Hermione's house when Lupin, who knew exactly what was going on in Sirius's head somehow, jumped to Sirius's defense and saved him from this awkward moment with a little forced help from Harry.  
  
"It's odd that Errol decided to land on Sirius when Harry sent the letter. Didn't you Harry? Early this morning? I thought I'd heard you anyway..." Lupin stared at Harry and Harry glared back but suddenly took the hint and played a long as best as he could.  
  
"Oh, yeah, of course.. right.. yeah, I.... wrote a.... letter," Harry said stumbling over his words but managed to convince the Weasley family. He was very confused and didn't know exactly what Lupin wanted him to say or do. Lupin nodded at Harry to say more. "I.... I erm, already wrote to Hermione because I needed to ask her some.... Stuff about..." Harry trailed off starting to feel very bemused with himself.  
  
"Then why hasn't Sirius given you your letter?" Ron asked with a slight tone of disbelief in his voice.  
  
"Oh, right. Here," Sirius said while handing Harry his letter two seats down from him. Harry took it and as he began to unfold the many folds Sirius had made, Sirius felt himself getting nervous and hoped that Harry would keep playing along even after he discovered Sirius's little secret. This certainly wasn't the way Sirius had hoped Harry would find out... Harry opened it all the way and Sirius watched Harry's face as it grew to look more and more surprised as he completed it. A moment later, as the entire table stared at Harry reading the letter and waiting for a response or explanation Harry folded the letter back up, put it in his pocket and looked around nodding slightly at everyone and Sirius could have sworn that Harry had given him a little eyebrow raise.  
  
"Well, Hermione can come," Harry said quickly to Sirius's relief. The entire table seemed to breathe again and every single person sitting their seemed to have woken from some strange sort of coma or trance.  
"So, you were that desperate for help on potions, were you Harry?" Ron said laughing.  
  
"Yeah, well, at least she can come," Harry said clearing his throat and clearly trying to hold back laughter. "She didn't say when though, so you better write her, Ron," Harry said. Ron stood up from the table to carry out Harry's request and this seemed to draw all the others to begin clearing their places and exiting to get on with their day. Harry walked over to Sirius who had just stood up from his chair; and as Sirius slightly winced at him, Harry gave Sirius a small amused smile while shaking his head slightly and studying Sirius in disbelief.  
  
"Well, Sirius," Harry said with a breath of laughter, "how about that walk?"  
  
"You did, WHAT?" Harry said after Sirius's entire explanation of his three days with Hermione as Godfather and Godson, who more treated each other as close friends then anything else, walked down a trail past a shed at the Burrow's garden.  
  
"You heard me," Sirius said. "I kissed her. Then we got in a fight about something, she liked it but 'just couldn't do it' for some reason and then I went to Remus's, heard about you, and came here... and... yeah," Sirius said. Harry could not stop shaking his head at Sirius in disbelief. This was pretty absurd and unexpected but for some reason it provided Harry with a sort of amusement.  
  
"You kissed someone twenty years younger then you?" Sirius was about to jump to his own defense when Harry continued. "No, not only that but you kissed your Godson's best friend." Harry laughed again.  
  
"It's not what you're thinking, though," Sirius said not being able to smile to himself remembering the incident in the forest.  
  
"OH really?" Harry said. "Then what should I be thinking?" Harry turned to his Godfather as they stopped in their path. Sirius looked down at his godson and trying to keep a straight face his mouth suddenly spread into a handsome grin and Harry burst out laughing for the first time in months. "Ha! I knew it. You're a scoundrel, Sirius." Harry laughed outloud and they both turned to continue walking.  
  
"I really felt something though, Harry. I didn't just kiss her for the fun of it. We really started to feel something for each other," Sirius spoke in defense. It was true. Harry didn't know how to respond to this so he changed the subject.  
  
"So why were you walking through a forest?" Harry asked. Sirius knew he had to tell Harry about 'James' eventually so Sirius decided to act more like a father at this moment rather then a friend discussing girls as he was before.  
  
"Okay, Harry, this is the most important part," Sirius said, stopping to turn to his Godson. Harry narrowed his eyebrows at Sirius. What could he be talking about? Harry thought. Suddenly Sirius broke out in the story of the stag and how Hermione called him James and how he took Hermione's picture of Harry and how he was unlike any normal deer. Harry froze and Sirius watched him concernedly. Harry didn't know what to think. How could it possibly be his father? James Potter was dead. Voldermort had killed him. It didn't get anymore 'gone' then that. But this stag seemed to have all the traits of the patronous Harry had conjured and Sirius seemed to be as bewildered as Harry felt. If it was his Dad...  
  
"Harry, are you okay?" Harry was thinking hard and couldn't be interrupted when finally he spoke back.  
  
"Sirius, you watched James turn into a stag loads of times back when you went to Hogwarts right?" Harry asked. Sirius seemed to know what Harry was getting at immediately.  
  
"Yes, yes, I'm not exactly sure if I have a picture though. I mean, we didn't become Annimagi to pose for each other..." Sirius trailed off and Harry nodded.  
  
"Check though. Check in Remus's house, check in your bags and jackets and--" Harry stopped abruptly when he noticed a look of surprise on Sirius's face. "What is it?" Harry asked.  
  
"Harry I've just remembered! Remus took one of Your father and I when we first became annimagi and we can compare his picture to the stag at Hermione's. We can look for any differences and if we don't find any then we have to do some further research but..."  
  
"Where is it?"  
  
"Where's what?"  
  
"The picture," Harry said. Sirius thought for a moment and then pulled off his shoe and pulled out an old photograph which had practically been warn into the shoe to look like it was almost made in there.  
  
"It's been there ever since we graduated," Sirius said quietly while opening it up. "I just remembered." Harry peered over at the black dog and the stag standing next to each other. The furry black dog barked at the camera and the stag just stared at it solemnly only moving its head around every few moments.  
  
"We'll have to go to Hermione's soon. I need to see this stag."  
  
The rest of the day went on as usual. In the afternoon Harry, Ron, and Sirius challenged Ginny and the twins to a game of quidditch out in the backyard and at sunset Hermione arrived in the fireplace with a suitcase, beautiful as ever to Sirius's eyes. Their eyes met the moment he looked at her and were still locked even as Mrs. Weasley attacked her in a huge hug.  
  
"Hermione, dear, it's so wonderful to see you," Mrs. Weasley said in a kind, motherly way.  
  
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione said hugging her back.  
  
"Ron! Get in here now!" Ron sprinted into the room and halted when he saw Hermione.  
  
"Hey Hermione. Glad you could come. How's your summer been?" Ron asked shifting his weight to the opposite foot every so often.  
  
"Fantastic," Hermione said, glancing at Sirius quick enough for Ron not to notice. "yours?"  
  
"Oh, s'been great. Harry's here too," Ron said waving an arm at his best friend.  
  
"And Hermione..." Mrs. Weasley said as though she had a big surprise to share. "Guess whose here... you'll never believe your eyes..." suddenly Mrs. Weasley made a huge gesture with her arms towards Sirius and Sirius gave Hermione a tiny smile and winked at her. Lupin smiled amusedly at their roleplay and Hermione had to push back a laugh along with Harry.  
  
"Oh... oh my... I..." Hermione said a look of exaggerated astonishment coming over her face. "Sirius!! YOUR ALIVE!!" Hermione made an odd squealing sound which startled Sirius and even Mrs. Weasley was a bit surprised when Hermione leaped on Sirius embracing him in a huge hug, her arms nearly rapping around his neck three times. Harry nearly burst out laughing at the look on Sirius's face but forced himself to push it back. "HOW is it POSSIBLE?" Hermione cried finally letting him go and staring into his face smiling slightly in a mischievous way.  
  
"The veil has some sort of magic that saved me," Sirius said with no sound of excitement although his face was lit up completely. Sirius could see through the corner of his eye that Ron didn't quite like the chemistry he was observing between Sirius and Hermione.  
  
"Hermione, come on I have to show you where your room with Ginny is," Ron said taking Hermione's arm and pulling her away from Sirius. Hermione giggled.  
  
"Ron, I've been to your house about a million times. I can assure you I KNOW where Ginny's room is." Hermione said tilting her head at Ron. Ron smirked at her and then added, "well, Harry and I need help with Potions homework." Hermione sighed at him.  
  
"Honestly Ron, are you EVER going to attempt to homework on your own?" Hermione said raising her eyebrows at him snobbily. Ron shrugged at her comment.  
  
"I don't know. But I do know that you're going to help me sooner or later so you might as well do it now." Before Hermione had a chance to defend herself Harry jumped in to prevent any further conflict between the two Harry gestured for them both to go upstairs. Before Hermione followed her two best friends she turned around to look at Sirius only to find that he had been looking at her as well. She smiled at him and he continued to hold her with his eyes as she continued back upstairs. Sirius prayed that he'd be able to keep his hands off her in the Weasley household. It wouldn't be easy... 


End file.
